Yearly Archives: 2014

Post navigation

Hello there! Please introduce yourself. Who are you and where are you from?

Hello im Takis aka Cryogenics and im from Athens,Greece!

How long have you been producing?

I was playing around with sounds for many years but more serious the last 6 or 7 years

Where did it all begin for you? What was the main influence on you in terms of drum’n’bass music? What were the very first tunes that stroke you most?

I guess all started back to ’91 when a friend of mine came in my place with a mixtape from a pirate radio station with some hardcore tunes. Well in terms of Drum & Bass/Jungle (and not Hardcore/ Breakbeat) all the early tracks from Goldie,Foul Play,Bay B Kane,Paradox & Dj Trax, Photek, Dj Trace, Dj Krust, Roni Size and the list goes on…But there is a tune that I cant stop listening to it till…

“We release music we like made by people we like.”- Blu Mar Ten on the ethos of their label

Intro:

After experimentation with various electronic music genres, two non-d&b studio albums and a string of drum and bass releases on a wide array of prestigious labels, Blu Mar Ten marked their glorious comeback to familiar musical paths with the establishment of their own imprint Blu Mar Ten Music (BMTM) in 2009. The label was initially set to accomodate for their own material and Blu Mar Ten released two studio albums in the next two years, entitled Natural History and Love Is The Devil respectively. They also commissioned a multi-part remix series to augment both projects, with contributions from established artists across the scene, achieving critical acclaim and remarkable chart success. Continue reading →

Every track that is presented in the series has been hand-picked from my personal record collection and has had a profound impact on my music taste. Featuring a variety of tracks across the electronic music spectrum, emphasizing mainly on drum and bass, from undisputed classics to underrated gems – all tracks I wish I had written, as the title of the series clearly states.

The third issue of the series is about one of the most exhilarating and beautiful fusions of pop sensibility in a drum and bass context. PFM, an artist always in the vanguard of the atmospheric and ambient side of drum and bass, has applied his studio wizardry to capture the desolation and melancholy of a pop song and encapsulate it in an elegant and illustrious drum and bass masterpiece.

“… from a musical point of view, I always intended to release stuff that would hopefully stand the test of time, hence the label name. Having said that, I never would have thought that people would still be listening to some of it 20+ years later! It’s proper mad, but really cool, it’s made it all worthwhile!” – Graham Mew (aka The Invisible Man) on Timeless Recordings

“We’re trying to push the sounds that were around in the mid-1990s, but update them … We’re keen to bring back experimentation. I think it’s something that has been lost over the past ten years. You’ve got more and more dance-floor fodder coming out. Drum and bass became about the same people for too long. We’re well aware that in two years it won’t be our stuff that’s being played, it’ll be someone else’s. That’s what makes it healthy” – Guy Brewer, prior to a Commix set at Aperture, June 2008

Every track that will be presented in the series has been hand-picked from my personal record collection and has had a profound impact on my musical taste. Featuring a variety of tracks across the electronic music spectrum, emphasizing mainly on drum and bass, from undisputed classics to underrated gems – all tracks I wish I’d written, as the title of the series clearly states.

Commix – Be True

The first feature of the series has been about a Photekproduction released in 1996. Making a leap in time and fast forward to 2007, the second issue is about a modern drum and bass classic; perhaps the most celebrated track from one of the most fascinating and talented drum and bass outfits of the last decade, Commix.

Every track that will be presented in the series has been hand-picked from my personal record collection and has had a profound impact on my musical taste. Featuring a variety of tracks across the electronic music spectrum, emphasizing mainly on drum and bass, from undisputed classics to underrated gems – all tracks I wish I’d written, as the title of the series clearly states.

The inaugural issue of the series is a track by Rupert Parkes; one of the most influential, prolific and iconic figures of drum and bass and electronic music in general. Continue reading →

This is my third contribution to the oldschool specialist blog Drumtrip; a review and the background story behind the track Prospect For Democracy by T.Power. You can view the original post, as well the previous installments of the TOTD series here:

In 1992, Dave Stone and Norton Blue, owners of the Trinity Studios in London, set up the UK hardcore label Dj Only Records, renamed a year later to the Sound Of The Underground Records (SOUR); one of the most influential collectives of the mid-90s jungle/drum and bass scene. The first signing of the label was the breakbeat hardcore outfit Bass Selective (Royal, Samuel, Hay, Clarke and Elizabeth Troy on vocal duties). Bass Selective went on to record four EPs; the highlight of their outputs being the piano-driven anthem Blow Out part 2.

Bass Selective disbanded in 1993 and one of the founding members, Marc Sebastian Royal emerged with the recording alias T.Power. He was readily signed as a solo artist by SOUR; a flying start for an illustrious and prolific recording career. It was only two years later however, that he would create serious waves in the drum and bass proceedings.